What 35+ CPOs Just Revealed About AI (Help Us Reach 101)
Launching the first AI Empowered Product Team benchmarking study. Want to join us?
Every product leader I know is being asked the same questions right now:
How is your team using AI?
Are you ahead or behind?
Should you be doing more?
Almost every product team is tinkering at the edges. A few are rethinking core workflows. Most are somewhere in between, trying to separate hype from value while still delivering impact.
This uncertainty is what drove me to launch the first The AI Empowered Product Team Benchmarking Study.
My goal: interview 101 CPOs this summer to understand how teams are really using AI day-to-day, what's driving real results, and what patterns separate the leaders from the laggards.
In this post, I’ll share early insights from the 35 interviews completed so far, how you can take part, and what’s in it for you (hint: a personalized benchmarking report).
AI Empowered Product Teams: Early Signals from 35+ CPOs
Across 35+ CPO interviews, most teams fall between emerging and developing on the maturity curve. Here’s what we’re seeing:
Across all six critical dimensions, teams consistently score between Emerging (1) and Developing (2) on our maturity scale.
Two key insights emerge:
This isn't about laggards vs leaders, it's an industry-wide reality. Yes, a few outliers scored above 3 and are reaping significant benefits. But the vast majority of product teams, regardless of company size or industry, are still in the early stages of AI adoption.
The consistency across dimensions is revealing. Most teams aren't excelling in some areas while struggling in others. Instead, they face the same foundational challenges across the board, from culture to measurement to strategy.
This suggests that the barriers to AI maturity aren't technical or tool-related. They're organizational and strategic.
When we dive deeper into each dimension, here is what it reveals.
1. AI Usage is still shallow and fragmented.
While AI is being used, it’s mostly for lightweight tasks like writing emails. Very few teams are using it for higher PM tasks like improved creativity, better decision making, simulating users etc., and almost everyone is struggling with quality.
2. Culture is lagging behind tooling.
Most teams have adopted tools, but very few have built an AI-first mindset. The shift from experimenting with AI to starting every task with AI hasn't happened at scale yet. As one CPO put it: "We have the tools, but not the habits."
3. Executive support exists but often lacks clarity.
Many CPOs say their exec teams support AI exploration, but the direction is vague. Without a clear mandate or budget, initiatives stall in experimentation mode.
4. Benefits are unclear or underreported.
Only a minority of teams are tracking real, quantifiable outcomes from AI efforts. This makes it harder to make the case for deeper investment or broader rollout.
5. Most teams lack a standardized, repeatable approach.
There’s little consistency across squads or product lines. Most AI initiatives live in pockets, owned by curious individuals rather than embedded into team processes.
The study also looks at how AI is being used in practice. We’ll dig into those usage patterns in the next article.
Curious Where Your Team Stands? Join the Study
If these patterns sound familiar, you're not alone.
The good news? Understanding where you stand is the first step toward building a more strategic approach.
If you're a CPO or product leader, I’d love to include your perspective.
What's in it for you:
A private AI maturity snapshot of your team
Early access to the study findings
A clearer picture of how leading product teams are actually using AI
And if you’re up for it, a chance to be featured in the final report
Here’s How To Join?
Click here to shoot me an email or just reply to this post and I’ll follow up with more info.
We’re past the halfway mark and wrapping up interviews by the end of summer. So if you’re interested, now’s the time to jump in.
Looking forward to sharing more of the results with you soon.